IMS Research reports less than half of IEEE 802.15.4 ICs shipped in 2009 (20 million) are Zigbee certified.

Due to its fragmented nature-- where a large number of small deals accounts for most of volume sold-- the 802.15.4 IC market is mostly underestimated.

IMS says some application areas are moving to standardised solutions. 802.15.4 ICs using proprietry software will lose 20% market share to ZigBee and RF4CE by 2010's end-- even if their shipments will triple by 2015.

Demand for standardised solutions will continue growing, especially in developing consumer markets. These include consumer health monitoring devices and home area networking (HAN) devices able to communicate with smart metering gateways.

The demand for 802.15.4 solutions using proprietary software will also grow-- they can offer simpler network stacks (with lower memory overheads) and avoids ZigBee certification costs. Such solutions are ideal when "open" networks are not needed or wanted.

Go Over 20 Million 802.15.4 Chips Sold in 2009, Fewer Than Half ZigBee-Certified

Fon describes its service as "crowdsourced wifi".

A Fon device ("Fonera") is a 2-channel wifi router. One channel is password-protected reserved for the user, while the other is open-- but accessable only to other Fon users.

Thus it's ideal for those who want to share their internet connection but are afraid of security risks.

There are over 2 million Fon routers worldwide, and the company provides a handy map for tracking all the available Fon networks out there.

Fon also has big telecomms companies signed to move its devices to their customers.

Go Fon

Go Fonspot Map

The HDbaseT Alliance will showcase their network technology at next year's CES-- connecting devices within a living room, bedroom and home office setting using a single 100m LAN cable.

The alliance consists of Samsung, Sony, LG and Valens Semiconductor. The technology enables 5Play convergence-- video, audio, internet, high-power and controls over a single 100m CAT5e/6 cable with RJ45 connectors.

It supports standard, enchanced HD and 3D video, all standard audio formats and 100Mb ethernet capabilities, as well as different control signals (CEC, RS323/USB, IR).

A number of HDbaseT-embedded devices from Gefen, Crestron and AMX are already on the market.

Go HDbaseT Alliance

Trendnet releases a 500Mbps powerline AV adapter (model TPL-401E) and adapter kit (TPL-401E2K).

The company describes the adapter as the fastest powerline solution available today.

One adapter connects to the router and the other to any electrical outlet for instant network access.

The TPL-401E2K adapter kit includes x2 powerline AV adapters.

Up to 16 powerline adapters can be used together to network devices without the need for new cabling.

Go Trendnet Makes Available to Market 500Mbps Powerline AV Solutions

The Wifi Alliance and Homeplug Powerline Alliance agree to joint technical review of Wifi Alliance and Homeplug specifications and standards to allow smart grids to interoperate with connected homes.

The organisations will also carry out joint outreach to promote wireless and powerline technology adoption.

HomePlug is working on an AV2 broadband spec to allow 600 Mbit/sec data transfer over home powerlines.

Go Wifi Alliance and HomePlug Powerline Alliance Collaborate on Connected Smart Home

Netgear announces its 3DHD Wireless Home Theatre Networking Kit (WNHDB3004). The package enables customer to connect TVs and other ethernet-enabled devices to the internet while boosting wifi range and signal strength.

The kit contains x2 adapters-- one connects to home router or gateway (via ethernet cable) and serves as transmitter and the other serves as receiver. Each receiver connects to up to x4 ethernet enabled devices.

The adapter uses 4x4 MIMO and space time block coding (STBC). Signal range covers an are of up to 465 m^2. Netgear says it is capable of sending multiple HD video streams through multiple walls with no data loss.

Go Netgear 3DHD Wireless Home Theatre Networking Kit